Scottish 4000ers on foot/bike

The use of pedal power between the two main hill groups significantly eases the physical difficulty and makes this expedition comfortably achievable in a day. The route is from hostel to hostel, as above, and the distances are 61 miles on the bike and 32 miles (13,400 feet of ascent) on foot.

Up until 1996 the fastest known completion was by Mark Seddon in 12 hours 59 mins. This time was subsequently bettered by Mark Hartell on 28th August 1998. He travelled west to east (with a single person backup) and finished at Glenmore YH in 12 hours 35 mins. [Ref. FR 10/98]

The route was attempted east to west in August 1999 by Alec Keith. He started at the Cairngorm car-park and utilised a pre-placed mountain bike in Glen Einich. Unfortunately, unanticipated headwinds on the cycle leg slowed things down and this section took 1/2 hour longer than expected. Total time to Achintee was 13 hours 45 mins (East group: 4:20, Road cycle: 4:30, West group: 4:55).

The summer of 2000 saw two more attempts, neither of which bettered Mark Hartell's time. On 29th July Paul McClintock and Duggie Gillespie managed a time of about 13 hours 20 mins, and on 3rd September John Coyle came very close with a time of 12 hours 41 mins. Both these efforts took place west-to-east, and both involved possible route choice errors between Braeriach and Ben Macdui. It would seem that with the right combination of tailwind for the cycle leg and optimum route across the Lairig Ghru, the tempting prospect of a sub-12 hour traverse could well be a possibility [Ref: SHR 1/01]

Subsequent to the above note, Jim Davies won the first organized race over this route in a time of 11 hours 35 mins 59 secs [Ref: FR 10/01]

The trip was accomplished in winter conditions by Mike Cudahy on 20th March 1997 starting from Derry Lodge. Summit to summit time was 22 hours 53 mins, full completion 29 hours 27 mins. [Ref. FR10/97]